In recent years, there are widely known small-sized imaging apparatuses using solid-state imaging elements such as a CCD (charged coupled device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. Such small-sized imaging apparatuses are now mounted onto portable terminals such as cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and the like, as well as notebook personal computers and the like, allowing not only audio information but also image information to be mutually transmitted to and from remote sites.
With solid-state imaging elements used for such imaging apparatuses, the pixel size becomes smaller recently to increase the number of pixels and achieve size reduction. Furthermore, it has become possible to curve the imaging surface, whereby a small-sized, high-performance imaging lens which is most suitable for such an imaging element can be obtained.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an imaging apparatus with a curved solid-state imaging element. Curving a solid-state imaging element into a polynomial surface shape corrects field curvature and distortion aberration occurring on the lens in a well-balanced manner, whereby a small-sized, high resolution imaging apparatus is provided. However, Patent Literature 1 does not disclose a specific method for curving the solid-state imaging element into a polynomial surface shape.